Athena Archetype

In Homer’s epic poem the Iliad, gods and goddesses play an important role in influencing the lives of humans, and Athena is an important part of the war. The goddess Athena is written mostly as a mortal, where she signifies the personification of war. Both sides of the war know that with Athena, they will not lose. This is probably why she is the most significant minor character. Athena is the most significant minor character because she is brave, wise, and she is a warrior. Athena plays a significant role in the unfolding drama, because both the Greeks and the Trojans know that her favor, they cannot be defeated.

In both The Odyssey and Wonder Woman there are Goddesses. We have Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and warfare in, The Odyssey, and Diana, the princess of Themyscira, in Wonder Woman. Throughout the book Athena is a strong warrior, but the only times she is mentioned is when she is helping Odysseus. At the beginning of the book Athena is seen persuading the other Gods to let Odysseus travel back home, and for the rest of the book she is helping his son, Telemachus, and Odysseus himself. Athena goes to Odysseus house disguised as a man to help his son take back control of the house from all of the suitors wanting to marry his mother. Athena also helps Odysseus “plot the slaughter of the suitors” (Homer 315). Without Athena’s help it is likely that Odysseus would have never made it back home safely to his wife and son. Athena

Athena was the Greek Goddess of many ideas, but she was famous mostly for her superior wisdom, her cunning skills in times of war, and her implausible talent for household tasks, such as weaving and pottery. She was celebrated more than any other God in ancient mythology, was the supposed inventor of countless innovations, and her figure gave reason for Greek woman to gain rights long before others of their time. The goddess of war, the guardian of Athens, and the defender of Heroes; Athena’s impact on the lives of Ancient Greeks is outstanding.

Athena and Ares share many common characteristics and many differences. One major similarity is that they are both deities who’s realm of power deals with warfare. The difference in this, though, is that Ares is a god of brutal and simple warfare. He is sometimes even known simply as a butcher, and the Greeks did not respect him as much as Athena. Athena, on the contrary, is a goddess of strategic warfare, and is very respected because of it. Another similarity they hold is that they are both children of Zeus, although under very different circumstances. Ares had a normal birth, whereas Athena was born out of Zeus’ skull after Zeus had swallowed Athena’s pregnant mother.

The goddess also kept those people strong and faithful to the success of our hero even if they had heavy doubts. In the very beginning, Athena disguised herself as a prince in order to gather crewmen for his ship. She also provided hope when it was needed for characters around Odysseus and Telemachus. For instance, when Penelope learned of her son’s absence she cried at the thought of losing yet another loved one. Athena helps Penelope by presenting herself as the phantom of Iphtime, Penelope’s sister and tells her, “Courage! Don’t be overwhelmed by all your direst fears. He travels with such an escort, one that others would pray to stand beside them.”

The Greek goddess Athena was celebrated more than any other God in ancient mythology. Athena was the Greek goddess of both wisdom and war, she is often considered one of the craftiest Olympian gods. As Greek civilization shapes gods that represent their desired

Athena and Aphrodite, two of the most well-known goddess’ from Ancient Greek mythology. Athena is the goddess of war strategy and wisdom, she never married or had relationships. Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty, she had a lot of relationships and had several children. Besides both of them being extremely popular and worshiped goddess’ it seems like these two goddess’ have nothing else in common. However, Athena and Aphrodite have a lot of similarities between the two of them. Some similarities are their early lives, they constantly interfered with the lives of others, and the wraiths they took on those who disrespected them. Although they bear some minor differences, the similarities between Athena and Aphrodite are pronounced.

In the Homeric Hymn 28, Homer describes Athena as, “the glorious Goddess, bright-eyed, inventive, unbending of heart, pure virgin, saviour of cities, courageous” (Rayor 2014:90). In this essay I will discuss the features of Athena that are emphasised in selected mythological tales. This will be done in order to come to a conclusion on the nature of the Greek gods as opposed to the God of Christian religion.

Hera, Zeus’s lovely wife, told Zeus, “Where did you put Athena? Tell me or else—”

While Athena is renowned for her skill in warfare, here she is merely a minor character acting as a major one. Her constant presence does not detract from the fact that she spends much of the epic acting as a messenger and holding her tongue from criticizing her father. In fact, her stepmother Hera is a much more powerful force. Athena’s role is one of a loyal henchwoman, rather than Hera’s co-conspirator. In Book 4, Zeus, the king of the gods and the father of Athene, forbids the gods from further aiding the mortals involved in the Trojan war.

Goddesses may help less able heroes in battle by removing them from the field, or disguising them. Aphrodite rescues Paris [p74] and Aeneas [p100] from the field when they are having difficulties. Goddesses physically influence the weapons being used in battle. In the case of Pandarus breaking the truce between the two sides, Athene stops the arrow fired at from being fatal by deflecting it. Another means by which goddesses help humans is by making people appear more fearful or more beautiful. When Achilles ventures out to the Greek wall in Book 18 [p342] to raise a battle cry, he is joined by Athene, and together they terrify the Trojans.

One way Athena shows loyalty to the Greeks is when Achilles fought Hector, “The bronze point sheared the air over his head / and rammed into the earth. But Athena / pulled it out and gave it back to Achilles / Without Hector noticing” (Homer, 152). Athena was untrustworthy to Paris and the Trojans, because she was helping the Greeks instead of the Trojans. Achilles is known as a great Greek hero in the Trojan War, and he is known for begin the strongest of all Greeks in the Illiad. Hector was one of the greatest fighters for the

The Trojan war hero, Achilles, and the Greek god Apollo share an uncontrollable rage, which revealed itself throughout The Iliad. An example of their wild anger is at the beginning of The Iliad, when Agamemnon irrationally took two women to be slaves for himself and Achilles. Chryses, the father of Agamemnon’s servant, pleaded to the god Apollo for assistance in returning his daughter home. Infuriated, Apollo sent plague-carrying arrows upon Agamemnon’s camp for nine consecutive days. In a fiery argument with Agamemnon, Achilles was seriously considering killing Agamemnon, but Athena intervened, and the furious Achilles swore that Agamemnon would become the core of the wrath of Zeus. Both Achilles and Apollo acted rashly and wickedly towards

If I could pick one god, goddess, hero or other character that I would like to be, I would pick Athena. Athena is the daughter of Zeus alone. It is said that she sprung full grown and fully clothed in armor, from his head. In the Iliad Athena is depicted as a “ruthless battle-goddess”. Athena is also shown as only being warlike to defend and protect from outside enemies. I admire Athena’s capability of defending and fighting. I am very in to martial arts so her fighting ability attracts me. I am attracted to her wisdom, reason, and purity. Athena is depicted as having a lot of fairness and compassion. I admire this because I always wish I had more of these traits like compassion and empathy. Although Athena is referred to as the battle goddess,

In the Iliad by Homer, Diomedes a Greek soldier displays excellence in his army. Athena, the god of war, gives Diomedes qualities of a god, which he uses with virtue, making him a Greek hero. In the battle, several gods and mortal fighters lack the knowledge of the costs of war, which creates a lack of virtuous leaders in the fighting. Diomedes fills this gap with his piety, and teaches his victims the effects of battle. His first major victim is Pandarus, a great archer with arrogance, whose tongue he brutally rips out. He then scratches his next victim Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, on her arm, maring her complexion. Diomedes then stabs Ares in the stomach, which cuts off the source of his appetites. Because Diomedes possesses a balanced soul and piety, he provides his victims with contrapasso punishment, that demonstrates to them the cost of war, making him a Greek hero.